How many colleges can/should I apply?

Answered

Honestly there is no set rule of thumb for how many colleges you should apply to. Some students apply to 5 because they know they want to apply only to in-state public schools while others apply to 25. I heard of some apply to as many of 40 last cycle which I think is going overboard.

These days admit rates are moving in a downward trend so I highly recommend that you apply to at least 1 safety school, somewhere where you would be happy to go but the admit rates are pretty high like +70%. That way you have 1 college to attend in the fall. Some students apply to 2 to 3 safeties which is okay also.

For target or "fit" schools that align very closely to your test scores, grades, academic narrative and ECs, I think you should apply to a minimum of 3 or 4 of those so you have an improved chance of getting into at least one school. Again, the number depends on your comfort and risk tolerance level. Some students are risk averse so they want to hedge their bets as much as possible by applying to many schools. They feel the more they apply to, the better the odds they will get into somewhere decent or good.

For reach or far reach schools, which historically were colleges with less than 20% admit rates and these days more like less than 10-15%, I think that is entirely up to you and how much time and effort you have available to complete these applications. Some can fill out a college application with all the supplemental essays in 5-8 hours while others need twice or three times that amount of time because they want to make sure their essays are perfect.

Apply to as many college that you can handle without sacrificing other aspects of your high school life that are still critical to supporting your academic narrative. Some students know that senior year is very demanding so they start working on their college essays during the summer before senior year. Some essay prompt are available in late summer.

The more research you do up front and the more colleges you tour (online or in person), the more focused your college list will be. One huge aspect many students ignore is the financial cost. I find it funny that many youtubers who do college reaction videos apply to bunch of schools and even get into them. It's very common that someone gets in to UPenn or Amherst and then ends up going to Penn State because their financial aid package was inadequate. So you don't want to pick schools where you know ahead of time, you can't afford to attend. So use the NPC net price calcs on the college websites ahead of time and make sure you are picking schools that are attainable for your families ability to pay.

Good luck.